New Worldwide Consular Fees

The U.S. Department of State updated its worldwide consular fees, including the following Machine Readable Visa (MRV) application fees for non-immigrant visas on April 13, 2012:

            Visa Type                               Previous (MRV) Fee     New (MRV) Fee

            Tourist, Business, Transit,       $140                                        $160

            Crew Member, Student,

            Exchange Visitor, Journalist

            Petition-based visas                $150                                        $190

            (H, L, O, P, Q, and R)

            Treaty Investor                        $390                                        $270

            and Trader visas (E)

            Through July 12, 2012, U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv will not charge additional fees to applicants who made a MRV payment before April 13th.

            On July 13, 2012 and after, applicants will need to pay any additional, applicable fees on the day of their interview appointment. There will be no refunds for overpayments.

For additional questions, please visit our website: http://israel.usembassy.gov/consular/niv/fees2.html

Illegal Work in the U.S.: Paying the Price

Check out our latest video, “Illegal Work in the U.S.: Paying the Price” on the consequences of working illegally in the United States.

Over the past few years, some Israelis wanting to work in the United States have told interviewing officers that they planned to go to the United States only for tourism. This video shows what happens when they are caught having worked illegally, either at the port of entry or at their workplace. What can follow is detention, possibly a court hearing, and then an immediate return to Israel along with a multi-year ban on future travels to the United States. This video features Israelis speaking honestly about their experience. We hope you'll agree with them that the price of breaking U.S. immigration law is too high!

The United States welcomes all Israelis who want to work legally or travel for tourism. Please obey the terms of your visa and have a great trip to the United States!

Intercountry Adoption Guide for American Citizens

Each year the United States welcomes more children into homes through intercountry adoption than any other country.

Adoption is a wonderful way for many orphaned children to find a loving, permanent home. However, the process of adopting a child from another country—and following all the regulations—can be confusing.

While the procedures vary from country to country, under U.S. law, there are two general processes that families must follow: the Hague Convention process, or the non-Hague Convention process. Which one you follow will depend on whether or not the other country involved is also a party to the Hague Convention.

Regardless of which process you use, most adoptions will include the following steps:

1) Selecting your adoption service provider;

2) Gaining approval to adopt abroad from the Department of Homeland Security (USCIS);

3) Being matched with a child;

4) Adopting or obtaining legal custody of the child in the foreign country;

5) Applying for a visa from the American Embassy or Consulate for the child to move to the United States;

6) Traveling home with your child.

Ready to get started? The State Department is here to help.

To learn more about country specific requirements, download the State Department’s Intercountry Adoption Guide at http://adoption.state.gov/content/pdf/Intercountry_Adoption_From_A_Z.pdf. Or, you can visit our website http://adoption.state.gov for answers to many international adoption questions.

You Spoke, and We Listened!

A few months ago, the U.S. Embassy sent out a customer service survey asking for your opinion of the Visa Section and what improvements we could make. More than 4,500 visa applicants responded! We appreciate each of you who took the time to complete the survey and want you to know how valuable your feedback has been. 

Of particular mention are the high scores we received for the courtesy and professionalism of our local staff and the American officers. As you know, customer service is one of our top priorities, so we’re happy to know our staff are receiving top marks. We also welcomed your suggestions for improvements. Your two most common requests were for: 1) more seating in our waiting room, and 2) a shorter wait at the Embassy. You spoke, and we listened!

We have now added 50 more chairs to our waiting room so you can sit down while you’re waiting for your interview with the consular officer. We also made a few internal changes to our procedures to reduce your wait time at the Embassy, which is now 30 minutes less!  Additionally, we produced the video, “Get Through the Visa Line Faster,” to show you how to make your visit to the Embassy as quick and efficient as possible.   

The U.S. Embassy is committed to making the visa application experience as straightforward as possible and we appreciate your feedback—year round! Thanks to your feedback we were able to significantly improve the visa experience for our applicants by increasing the number of chairs by 500% and decreasing the amount of time spent in the waiting room by 30%. 

Feel free to email us at NIVTelAviv@state.gov or leave a comment on our Facebook page with suggestions on how we can do even better. You can also read our customer service statement to visa applicants online at http://travel.state.gov/visa/visa_2796.html.

Ask the Consul: Is there an advantage to applying for a visa through a travel agent/visa vendor?

The U.S. Embassy has heard that some visa vendors in Israel have charged applicants exorbitant fees to fill out the DS-160 application and prepare them for the visa interview—in some cases even promising that the applicant’s U.S. visa will be approved. The visa section reminds all applicants that those who choose to use the services of a travel agent or visa vendor gain no advantage in the visa application process. Travel agents and visa vendors are independent operators and are NOT connected in any way to the U.S. Embassy.

In some cases, using a visa vendor can even be a disadvantage for applicants when it comes to timely delivery of the passport. We have recently seen a large number of visa applications filled out by travel agents and visa vendors containing errors, most often in the passport number or mailing address/telephone number. The vendor's error resulted in serious delays in delivery of the passport for applicants. Read the story on our blog here: http://consularroundup.blogspot.com/2012/01/tiny-typos-can-create-big-problems-for.html.

Furthermore, applicants should beware of any vendors or travel agents who make unethical promises that your U.S. visa will be approved. Only a U.S. consular officer can determine whether you qualify for a visa—no one else.

We urge all applicants to carefully review our website for all official information about the visa application process. Our FAQ page answers many commonly asked questions: http://israel.usembassy.gov/consular/niv/faqs.html. You are also welcome to ask any visa questions on our Facebook page and a consular officer will answer within 24 hours.

***

Ask the Consul is a regular feature on the Consular Round Up blog. Every few weeks, one of the Embassy's Consular Officers answers an interesting consular question we've received from one of our readers. Think you can stump us? To submit a question, leave a comment, post one on our Facebook wall or send us an email at NIVTelAviv@state.gov. We look forward to hearing from you!

How to Register to Vote Overseas

For American citizens, 2012 is a major election year. This year's election will be held Tuesday, November 6, and will include the presidential race, 33 seats in the U.S. Senate, as well as all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Overseas voters have to send in a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to their local election officials every year (even if they’ve previously voted overseas), and every time they change their name, physical address, or email address.

Use the FPCA to request an absentee ballot, and to register to vote if you’re not currently registered.  The easiest way to fill out this form is to use the online tool available at www.fvap.gov that walks you through the process based on your state’s specific voting rules. 

For a video Introduction to online voter registration as an overseas citizen, check out the video below from the non-partisan Overseas Vote Foundation:

 

State-by-state voter registration guidelines are also available on the Federal Voting Assistance Program website at www.fvap.gov.

Need additional help? The American Citizen Services Unit of U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv is always willing to help and provide more information.  Stay tuned for election events and information!

Video: Get Through the Visa Line Faster!

Want to know how to get through the visa line faster? Watch this video!